The Witch's Apprentice
by Naty17
Summary: Red orbs gazed about. The Witch had given Jill powers. In exchange, she'd be forced to become her 'apprentice', whatever that meant. Now, everyone thought she was evil! She had a choice; try and convince the villagers of her innocence... or give in to her new mischievous desires. And if there's one thing The Witch taught her, it was this: "It's always more fun to be bad."
1. Prologue

**The Witch's Apprentice**

_This started out with me being bored. I started writing some random crap in Jill's PoV. I didn't know why, but I just felt like writing something for Harvest Moon. Somehow, I got the idea of turning Jill into a witch, and... well... here we are. :3_

_I'm not sure if I'll actually make this a yuri story. I probably will, though. The Witch Princess is my favorite Harvest Moon bachelorette of all time! I love her so much! Oh, and... there's a possibility I'll change the rating from T to M. There's also a very likely chance that I'll never update this again, so if you like what you see here, you'd better review. _

_If I get at least 5 reviews, I might consider keeping this story up. Not too hard, right? My Vocaloid story 'The Girl in the Ward' gets around 18 reviews per chapter, my record being about 25. 5 should be easy enough, right?_

_Anyway... onwards, dear readers!_

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Prologue**

* * *

Jill sighed.

It was extremely hot for an autumn day, and she'd only made things worse by working. It was so incredibly relaxing to just sit on the cool grass, her bare feet dangling in the water of her pond.

A cool breeze blew through the air, and she sighed once more, enjoying the feeling.

If she were on private property, Jill would simply undress right now, and lie naked in the grass.

Unfortunately, though, Takakura could step out of his house at any moment, plus, Cat was already staring at her funny.

As for Dog... she had no idea where he was.

Yes, yes, she'd named her cat 'Cat', and her dog 'Dog'. Very original. Jill preferred to call her choice of names 'simple'.

Jill pulled her feet out of the cold water, and began putting her socks back on.

Even if it was hot out, she still had things to do.

She'd already fed her chickens (Cluck, and Lunch), along with her duck (Chinese Turkey), and her lonely cow (Burger).

What she really wanted now was a sheep... she could name him Vegetarian, or Fatso.

She smiled to herself. She was just so talented when it came to picking out names for her animals~!

Rock often joked that she'd probably name her first child (if she ever even had one) 'Kid'. As a comeback, she'd always tell him he'd probably name his own offspring 'Rock Jr', which wasn't much better.

But, whatever. Sheep could wait 'til later.

Once she had her boots on properly, Jill set out towards the town.

Or if the place could really be called a town...

Forget-Me-Not Valley wasn't even much of a valley. One minute, you'd be in it, then blink once, and you'd be in Mineral Town.

It was basically just a single stone paved street ranging horizontally, a few houses acting as decorations beside.

Then, continue south, you'd find a few more tiny houses, and a beach.

Go east, and you'd reach the beautiful Villa.

Go west, you'd find a small farm.

Go north, and you'd fine something that was supposed to resemble another farm, but that was really just a pile of sticks, stones, and those darned stubborn weeds. Oh, and the occasional plant here and there.

Jill didn't like farming. In fact, she absolutely detested farming. All she'd wanted was to get away from the city.

No, not because of the beautiful scenery, or the peaceful atmosphere, but rather because she had a huge debt over her head in the city, and should she again ignore the demands for payment, would be arrested.

So, she'd moved to a place far away, in the middle of nowhere, where she'd live on some old rundown farm and sleep her whole life without needing to worry about one rent letter.

WRONG.

Apparently, even a place this shitty came with a cost.

It was 1000 G per season to live in the old shack.

And the villagers were expecting her to actually work.

'Maybe I'll just marry Marlin, or something, and he can do all the work on his own...' A very happy thought, though very unlikely.

She hated planting seeds. She hated watering crops. She hated pulling out weeds. She didn't really like animals. She never remembered to feed them (excluding today). She always seemed to get them angry.

Plus, with all these sprites appearing from nowhere... it was enough to drive her crazy.

Without realizing, she'd walked all the way over to the magnificent Villa.

She walked in (no one ever knocked here).

Lumina sat at the piano (wasn't she with Takakura 10 minutes ago? How had she appeared here so quickly?), with Rock sitting quite closely beside her.

Jill raised a brow, as Lumina giggled, replacing Rock's fingers on the correct notes, and pressing down on his hands to get the keys to emit a sound.

Jill quietly backed out of the room. She wouldn't be the one to ruin Lumina's little romance- no matter how tempting.

Instead, she decided to make her way towards the Goddess Spring.

Jill quite liked the Harvest Goddess. She was a beautiful woman, yes, but very... un-ladylike, at times.

The Harvest Goddess was sarcastic, blunt, and annoying- qualities you wouldn't normally expect from one with a Godly title.

However, she listened when Jill bitched and moaned about farming life, and often did the same about her own divine life.

The Harvest Goddess also knew the best gossip; after all, Gods' eyes see all.

Jill rounded the bend, but stopped short when she saw a figure furiously throwing stones into the pond water.

"Damn- green- lady!" The Witch Princess angrily clipped the words, as another stone was violently thrown into the water's surface. "Why- won't- you- just- come out?!"

"Maybe because she doesn't like you." Jill spoke up. "Ever thought about that?"

The Witch Princess whipped around, and glared at her. "Of course I know that, you stupid human."

"Then why are you here? You're just being a nuisance."

The Witch smirked bitterly. "Watch your mouth, kid. Right now, you're the one being a nuisance. I just want to try out a new spell..."

"It won't work."

"What?"

"I said it won't work."

The Witch Princess narrowed her eyes. "Why not?"

Jill glared at the curly blond. If there was one person she hated in Forget-Me-Not, it was this arrogant, hateful woman.

The Witch.

"There's always something that goes wrong; your spells never work!" Jill said through grit teeth. "It's pathetic! You've spent, like, 200 years studying this stuff, and you can't even get a single spell right!"

One of the main reasons for Jill's hatred was that the Witch Princess was a sadistic bitch. She enjoyed magically growing extra weeds in Jill's field, just so she could laugh while Jill tiredly tried to pull it out.

And if Jill gave up, she'd taunt her with insults, such as, "See? A stupid city girl can't take care of a farm! What are you going to go do now, move back and go on a big shopping spree to release all your inner angst?"

Jill wanted to kill her. She often tried to throw rocks at her, but that damn witch had a reflective spell. Damn stupid bitch.

Jill sneered at her. "I guess it's no wonder you're always here; you're probably trying to somehow steal the Goddess's powers, to replace the ones you don't have."

By now, the Witch was fuming. Jill knew her powers were a sore spot; in the supernatural world, powers gave you… well, power. The more powerful your supernatural abilities are, the higher up your rank is. Which left the Witch Princess at a somewhat low ranking.

She stomped up until the two women were so close, their faces were almost touching.

"What gives you the right to talk to me like that? I am THE Witch Princess! I could turn you to stone if I wanted!"

"Pfft." Jill shrugged. "I'm not scared of you. You apparently turned the Goddess into stone by accident. Key word: ACCIDENT. That was 5 years ago too, wasn't it? I wasn't there then, and you don't have any proof it actually happened."

The Witch roared in frustration. "You have no idea what it's like to be me! You have no clue in the world, because you're not a witch! You're just an annoying little brat, a stupid, useless human!"

"Thank God... I'd HATE to be you!" Jill yelled back.

Suddenly, the Witch Princess's crimson red eyes widened in realization, as an idea came to mind.

She grabbed onto Jill's arm and buried in her fingernails, deep, as Jill tried to slip away.

Then, the Witch began chanting in an ancient language.

Jill couldn't understand a word of what the blonde was saying, but suddenly, there was a flash, blinding Jill. Then, just as fast as it came, it was gone.

The Witch Princess released her grip on the farmer, and Jill jerked away. "What the hell did you-?!"

"Tadaa- oh. You two again."

Jill spun around to see the Harvest Goddess herself standing on her pond.

"Oh, good… it's you." Jill said. "She cast some sort of spell, that stupid witch, and-"

"I'm sure she did." The Goddess snapped.

Jill froze. "Wha-?" The Goddess was glaring at her. Why? What had she…?

She turned at the sound of the Witch Princess's snickering, and it clicked. "What did you do?!" she snarled.

The Witch cocked her head innocently. "What ever do you mean?"

"You did something bad, I know you did! Reverse it now!"

"Did something bad?" The Goddess laughed, the sound of it as melodious as wind chimes. "That has got to be the worse I have ever seen! What is the trick this time, hm? You want to try to trick me into reversing good? I won't, so you may leave now."

"What are you talking about?" Jill asked her, a little more venom in her voice than she'd meant.

"Oh Jill… always the innocent one, aren't you?" The Goddess shook her head. "I know very well you are far from innocent. You, Jill, are nothing but a witch's apprentice; you should know better than to try and trick me."

"… What?"

"Come along, now, Jilly~!" The Witch Princess chirped. "We're going home now~!"

"Wait, I-" She hadn't even had the time to complete the sentence before the Witch finished casting her spell.

"Goodbye my dear friend~!" The Witch waved to the Goddess as the light engulfed them.

When Jill opened her eyes again, she stood in a room.

A large cauldron sat bubbling in the center, and the far walls were lined with bookshelves. A bed was pushed into one corner, it's purple sheets rumpled, and a table littered with papers, thick novels, and all kinds of pens and vials sat at the other end.

At the foot of the bed was a mountain on stuffed teddy bears, and all over the floor, there were books or all colors, all sizes.

Jill knew exactly where she was.

"This is not my home." she snarled.

The Witch Princess simply chuckled. "No, not completely, yet. I'll have to make some renovations..." she began murmuring a spell, swirling her hands in a circular motion. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, one of her large bookshelves collapsed, shaking on the ground like it was having a seizure.

The Witch swore. "Damn it... I _knew_ I should have practiced that spell more often..."

Jill backed away from her. "What exactly did you do?" she asked, her threatening tone spoiled by the slight quiver in her voice. "Why doesn't the Harvest Goddess know who I am...?"

"Oh, she knows who you are, alright..." The Witch Princess murmured with a smile, climbing up her step stool to gaze into her bubbling cauldron. "You seem to be the only one in the dark, my poor dear~!"

"Don't you dare call me that again!" Jill yelled. "And tell me more specifically! What did you do?!"

The Witch turned to her, and smiled. She rotated her finger in a circular motion, murmuring a few words in an ancient language Jill couldn't understand. Her eyes lit up in satisfaction. "Turn around, little one."

Jill ignored her nickname, and slowly turned. Before her floated her own reflection, and her jaw dropped in horror. "W-What did you do?!"

She looked nearly the same way she had that morning. Her chestnut brown hair was pulled into her same usual ponytail, her skin was still slightly sunburnt. Her clothes were the same too; a white and orange T-shirt with loose fitting jeans, and a plaid green apron thing tied around her waist to hold any herbs she found in its pockets.

The only thing different about her were her normally amethyst-colored eyes, the bright purple orbs that so many people had complimented her on, but that she'd only shrug off.

Now, they were an evil scarlet red, the color of fresh blood. Her pupils were small, in shock, and with the red nightmare of a background behind them, she looked... She looked evil.

She turned back to The Witch Princess, and stared deeply into The Witch's own pair of scarlet orbs. They glittered sadistically, showing as much amusement as the curved smirk on her lips.

"I'm going to ask you one more time..." Jill asked in a low, threatning tone. "What the hell did you do?"

The Witch hopped off her step stool, and slowly glided towards the other girl. "Those..." she slid her finger down Jill's pale cheek, as Jill jerked away, "are my mark."

"Your what?!"

"My mark." The Witch repeated, that smug smile stretching slightly wider. "I gave you a part of me with that spell. I gave you those beautiful eyes. They are beautiful, aren't they?"

"They're hideous."

The Witch waved the comment off. "I don't care what you think." She turned. "The elders have been bugging me about getting myself a companion." She made a sour face. "They think I've been causing a bit too much trouble, calling too much attention upon myself."

"Companion?"

"Silence!" The Witch raised her hand, glaring at the young farmer. "Don't speak until I'm finished speaking." She turned away again, and began to walk in the opposite direction. "They were considering sending me my bratty niece. Imagine that!" she laughed. "A mere eleven-year-old keeping _**me**_ in line?! As if!

"I didn't really know _what_ I was going to do! But then, you mentioned how much you would '_hate_' to be me, and it gave me a little idea..."

She spun again. "A caster's mark permits one to turn a human into a spellcaster. Naturally, it can only be done once, or else a person would be able to create their very own army!" She laughed, as though it were a joke. "Only a pureblood spellcaster can mark someone, so you, little Jill, can not. Haha!"

"So... you've turned me into... a witch?!" Jill was trembling with rage.

"Nowadays," the Witch ignored her, "spellcasters are using the mark to turn their loved ones into spellcasters. I find that so pathetic... How could they fall for humans?!" She made a face. "Disgusting. I believe in the more traditional ways..." She glanced back at Jill. "From now on, you are my very own slave~!"

"Excuse me?!"

The Witch hopped closer. "You have been marked by me; you are now my personal assistant!"

"Like hell I-"

"Swirl your finger around."

"What?!" Jill frowned.

The Witch took her hand and grabbed onto it so tightly, Jill couldn't let go. She traced a circle in the air with Jill's hand, then let go. "Like that. Try it."

Hesitantly, Jill lifted her hand. With her finger, she repeated the Witch's gestures. Nothing seemed to happen.

"Again!" The Witch snapped.

Jill flashed her the finger, and traced another circle in the air. Then the strangest thing happened.

The inside of the circle went blurry as it floated in that space. Jill gasped, and poked her finger through it. It tickled, and as she poked the rest of her hand through, it turned into a tingly feeling.

"It's energy." The Witch explained. "You create it on your own. It's amazing, really. With just a flick of your hand, you can create thousands of particles in a single second, and store them like that in a simple circle."

Jill was in awe. The way The Witch Princess explained it truly _did_ make it sound like a wonderful thing. "W-What does it do?"

"Nothing, really." The Witch smiled. "It's just a cool magic trick- except it's not just a trick." She leaned in beside Jill's ear. "It's real...!"

Jill shivered, and stepped away, her bubble of amazement burst. "Quit it! I don't care about some stupid magic! Just... take it back!"

"I can't undo a marking." The Witch clucked. "It's a permanent thing; you are now a witch for infinity."

Jill gaped. "U-Uh, wha-"

"Spellcasters can only die by their own hand." The Witch lectured. "A mark brings a human immortality." She smiled. "You and I will live forever!"

Jill backed away. "No... please! Just take it back, please!" she begged. "I don't want powers, I don't want immortality! I'm sorry for everything I said, so just, please...!"

The Witch sneered. "Pathetic. You're so disgusting, I don't even want to look at you."

Jill stopped. "I-It's okay... right? I can live this way... I-I'll just... move to a different place, or something, and tell them I wear contacts... right? Yeah... I-It's not the end of the world. So what if I have red eyes and can... create particles... right? I... I can do this..."

The Witch smirked at her evilly. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

As she snapped her fingers, a feeling like fire began to flame in Jill's heart. It began to spread all over her body, and... it burned!

She screamed as she collapsed to the floor, clutching her chest. It hurt! It felt like her heart would burst, like her veins would burst, like she'd bleed all over the floor, it was unbearable!

"That", The Witch said, snapping her fingers once again, "was level two of pain." She smiled. "It goes up to ten."

Jill panted, lying on the floor, unable to even think straight.

"You are just my pathetic apprentice. Which means that, until you mature into a full witch, I have complete power over you. If you even think of leaving again, I won't hesitate to snap." She pressed her thumb and index together, visualizing her threat.

"I-I..." Jill took in a deep breath, and glared up at her from the floor. "So what do I do?"

"I'll find something." The Witch chirped. "Meanwhile, I'll make room for you here, and you will be expected to turn yourself in at every night before 10 pm. For tonight, you can go sleep in your sad little farm, city girl." She began to walk back to her cauldron.

"... Why me?"

The Witch stopped mid-step, and without even glancing back, answered her question. "I like a challenge."

Jill only stared at her from the floor, not even bothering to get up.

Finally, The Witch grew tired, and scowled at her. "What?! Scram!"

Tears of rage filled Jill's eyes. "I hate you...!" She spat, not daring to voice the words louder than a whisper.

In an equally quiet voice, the Witch murmured, so softly that Jill nearly missed it, "Not for long... slave."

* * *

_You know... I still can't believe I actually finished this. Can you? O.O_

_It's a little rushed at some parts, but... *shrug* Whatever._

_I kind of like it, actually. I mean, the supernatural themes and rules were fun to come up with. I only have one other supernatural themed story; a Vocaloid fic called 'Enclosure'. It's based off Kelley Armstrong's supernatural world from her 'Women of the Otherworld' series, though. This supernatural shit here is all mine! MY imagination! Although they're pretty basic rules... *shrug*_

_Surprisingly, I don't have very much to say. Normally, dear first time Naty17 readers, my Author's Notes are nearly as lengthy as the chapters. ... Or, close enough._

_So, yeah. You better show me some love, my dear little lambs, or this story may end up a single chapter...! I beg of you, instead of simply adding this to your favorites or following it, could you _**please**_ drop a review, too? Please? It'd mean a lot..._

_(P-S: Sorry this is so short...)_

* * *

**Please Review!**


	2. What have you done?

**The Witch's Apprentice**

_Woohoo! I got my five reviews~! Hooray!_

_I'm really glad. At first, I only had two reviews, I think. It was very surprising for me, seeing as in my Vocaloid stories, I usually get about ten reviews per chapter, sometimes twenty reviews for a single chap. So it was kinda shocking for me to click on my stats for _this_ story and realize I only had two reviews! D: My reaction was probably pretty funny. However, as time advanced, I did get my five. I wasn't overly traumatized by my low number, because I wasn't expecting very much for a Witch x Jill fic. I was very satisfied with the reviews I got because they weren't just simple 'update soon's. To me, the longer reviews that give detail and say what the person did or didn't like, etc, are worth two reviews. ^-^_

_I am sad to see, however, that after a whole year of work put into Harvest Moon stories back in 2011, nobody recognizes my name anymore now that I have returned from my absence. It's a little deflating to my larger-than-life ego, but I suppose it just creates more of a challenge!_

_Enough about the reviews, though!_

_One challenge I have in this story is relating to Jill. Because I haven't really written out her relationship with any of the villagers, it's hard to make her feel anything for them. It's kind of hard to write out her angry scenes too. Heck, Jill seems to be a hard character to write in general! All that anger... *shakes head* The Witch, on the other hand, is fairly easy. I think it's because I relate better to her... *laughs* While Jill is all like, 'OMG, my friends!', WP is thinking, 'Ew, feelings...' XD Besides... It's always more fun to be bad. ;)_

* * *

**Anonymous Reviews:**

**Guest: (Jill's pretty annoying, she's perfect for the witch.)  
**_Um... Thank you...?_

_.o0o._

**Chapter 2 - What have you done?**

**.o0o.**

The first thing Jill thought when she rolled onto her side was, 'Gee, what a strange dream...'

In it, The Witch Princess had put a curse on her, a curse she called her 'mark'. She'd transformed Jill into a witch, and expected her to become some kind of slave to her! As if!

Jill chuckled to herself, shaking her head. A wild imagination, that's all it was. Nothing more, nothing less. And thank goodness for that, too! A witch... how silly! There was no way Jill could ever become a witch! That was impossible.

She yawned and crawled out of her bed, only to realize... "I'm still wearing my clothes...?" Even her rucksack was still on her back! "Huh." She shrugged it off. "I must've been tired last night."

She took a roll of bread out of her rucksack (she didn't have a fridge yet) and took a big bite out of it. Strangely enough, though she hadn't eaten very much for dinner the night before, she didn't feel hungry at all now. She stared down at herself in confusion, but shook her head.

She shoved the roll back into her bag. If she wasn't famished yet, then she'd save it for lunch.

She began peeling off her T-shirt. Being a poor farmer like she was, she had not many clothes. Most of what she wore was always a T-shirt and jeans, and that's exactly what she replaced her wrinkled clothes with. They were practically carbon copies, though the shirt had purple edges instead of orange and her jeans were sewn together in pink thread rather than navy blue.

She pulled her hair out of her ponytail and tried to brush through it using her fingers. "So knotty...!" She sighed and pulled a brush out of her nightstand. She didn't have a mirror in the house, but she didn't really need one anyway. After wearing the same hairstyle for nearly twenty years now, she didn't have any trouble wrapping a purple elastic around her chestnut brown locks.

Finally dressed and ready, Jill decided it was time to start her day.

She stepped outside and walked over to her bird shed. It was cloudy out and it looked like it would rain. She'd have to check the weather report before she decided to water her crops, just in case. She hoped it would rain; it would save her the trouble of watering her crops.

"Cluck?" She called out as she opened the door to the coop. "Lunch? ... Chinese Turkey? Hello?"

She scanned the shed, searching for her birds. Finally, she saw a flash of white in one corner.

"Cluck?" The chicken was huddled against the left wall, feathers sticking up in its plumage.

Jill bent down in front of it. "Here", she said, holding her hand out to it.

Cluck flinched, turning sharply. At the sight of Jill, though, it seemed to frown- extremely rare for a bird to do. It noticed Jill's outstretched and right away took a step closer towards it. To Jill's surprise, however, instead of bending its head down to allow Jill to scratch it, it nipped her, hard.

She let out a surprised shriek, pulling away quickly. She stared at it in shock, and it glared back at her. Of course, Cluck had never been the nicest chicken there was, but she'd never bitten Jill. She'd only nibbled, but had never purposely bitten down hard enough to hurt.

There was now a big red blotch on Jill's finger.

"O-Ow!" She stared accusingly at the chicken. "W-What was that for?!"

The bird quickly scurried away, avoiding her.

"Lunch? Chinese Turkey?" The other two were huddled in the lower left corner, shivering. "Guys...?" She crouched close to them and frowned as they tried to back away further into the wall. "What is it...?"

She didn't reach out to them again, in fear of maybe giving them a heart attack, or something of the sort. Instead, she walked up to the bin on the back wall, scooping up the bird seeds with the small bucket she kept in there. She emptied the bucket in the first feeder, and Lunch nervously came closer.

Jill repeated her actions with the other two feeders. As soon as she began walking back to the shed door, all three birds ran to their feeders and gobbled down their seeds.

'What are they... starving? I fed them yesterday, I'm sure of it!' She was worried. They were acting awfully strange...

She left them and went to go tend on her crops. They were a little brown on the edges, but that wasn't anything odd; it just meant they needed more water.

There was nothing wrong with her crops, which was good. Jill was maybe just a little paranoid this morning. Perhaps her animals were just sick, though she couldn't imagine how they had gotten this way.

Maybe she'd ask the Harvest Goddess. Surely the Harvest Goddess would know, and if she didn't, then the Harvest Sprites probably would.

The Harvest Goddess... She'd been in that dream too, hadn't she? Jill remembered that glare she'd given her... It sent shivers down her spine.

"_Oh Jill… always the innocent one, aren't you? I know very well you are far from innocent. You, Jill, are nothing but a witch's apprentice; you should know better than to try and trick me."_

"Stop it..." Jill scolded herself. 'It was just a stupid dream...' But it'd felt so real...!

She dropped her watering can onto the ground beside her shack of a house and leaned against it, pressing her hand to her face.

'Funny...' she thought when she pulled her hand away again. 'I'm not sweating that much...' Normally, after such a hard day of work, she'd be so sweaty she'd quickly jump into her shallow watering hole to wash off- after all, she couldn't afford a shower yet. Ridiculous that the house didn't already come with one.

But there was only a bit of moistness on her forehead instead of soaked hair and running drips. Why...?

Maybe she was getting used to this farming business. It had, after all, been nearly three seasons since she'd arrived. She shouldn't be so worried.

She sighed to herself and walked down the cobble-stoned path leading to town, if Forget-Me-Not Valley could even be called such a thing.

She began making her way over to Lumina's mansion. Surely, if anyone, Lumina would be able to reassure her that everything was fine. Maybe she'd even have an idea of what was wrong with Lunch, Cluck, and Chinese Turkey!

Of course, the Harvest Goddess would have been a better source for that specific matter, but Jill felt hesitant about going there. Even though it was only some stupid dream, she felt nervous at the thought of going there.

She stepped up the grand stairs leading to the Villa. Romana, Lumina's grandmother, was taking a walk outside of the mansion, pausing to marvel at the beautiful flowers Sebastian had planted. When she saw Jill, however, her face grew angry.

"You!" She stormed over. "Go away!"

Jill was shocked. "W-Wha-...?"

"I know what you're up to!" Romana declared, her eyes blaring. "It's no good, either! I will not let you vandalize my property, not the inside nor the outside! You've stolen things before, I know you have!"

"What?!" Jill cried. "Romana, what are you saying?! I've never stolen anything from you! I've never stolen anything from anyone!"

Romana's eyes narrowed into such tiny slits, Jill was sure she could see through her flesh into her heart. "You liar. You are nothing but a filthy witch, no better than the first one!"

"Oh, Romana, how nice to see you~!" The voice came from behind them, but Jill didn't even need to turn to recognize the horrid squeak of The Witch Princess. She froze, a chill running through her.

"You!" Romana snarled, pointing accusingly.

"Little Jill wasn't going to do anything to harm you or your villa, I assure you," The Witch chimed. "If she did, I'd have to punish her for not letting me join in on the fun~!" Romana was fuming, but The Witch seemed to enjoy her anger. "But no, little Miss Jill was simply on her way to my pathetic shack."

"I was not!" Jill yelled, spinning on the ugly witch. "I was just going to visit Lumina!"

"I'd rather die than let a witch near my granddaughter," the old lady hissed.

That word struck a chord inside the young farmer. Her breathing stopped and her heart, she swore, skipped a beat. _A witch..._ It couldn't be. "I'm no witch," she said quietly, doubting herself.

"She's right," The Witch Princess chirped. "She's no witch yet. This girl is only my stupid apprentice. No more, no less than a pathetic leech. She's like a puppy who needs to be housebroken~!" The Witch leaned over and ruffled Jill's hair. Startled, she jerked to the side, escaping the unwanted hand.

"I'm not stupid, and I'm certainly no leech!" Hatred burned in the pits of her stomach. "It's not like I even want to be near you right now, nor do I ever want to see your butt-ugly face in front of me. So why don't you just leave me alone?!"

The Witch's eyes flared, but she looked over to the old lady and gave a sweet professional smile. "If you'll excuse us, we meant not disturb. We will be retreating to stupid shack, now, thank you."

Romana mumbled things under her breath as she glared at their retreating figures. "Witch...!"

As soon as they were inside The Witch's house, Jill spun on the blond-haired woman. "What the hell did you do to my life?! What did you do to my animals, to Romana... and..." A sudden memory from her dream resurfaced and she paled. "A-Are my eyes still...?!"

The Witch rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you're still wearing those farmers' rags... We should get you dressed into something nicer, shouldn't we?" She began swirling her fingers around in a circle and tiny circles formed in the air around her. 'Particles,' Jill thought.

The Witch began quietly chanting something in what sounded like... gibberish. There wasn't any language Jill could decide it sounded like. It was just so... strange. There was no other way to describe it but that.

A flash blinded the young farmer. It felt like nothing at all had happened, but when Jill opened her eyes and gazed down at herself... "WHAT THE HELL AM I WEARING?!"

She wore what seemed like a pin-striped turtle-neck shirt of orange, fuchsia, and gray, though it extended downwards into a short dress. One sleeve was ripped to the shoulder, the other reached down to her elbow. On her feet were lace-up booties with large heels and chains hung loosely around her waist. Gingerly, Jill plucked the end of a long ripped cloak of black, wondering if the witch had purposely given her ruined clothing.

"Wow." The Witch stared at her with a surprised look on her face. "I didn't think it would actually work." She gave the farmer a once-over, her brows rising approvingly. "Not bad."

"Not bad?!" Jill was trembling in anger. "GIVE ME BACK MY FREAKING CLOTHES!"

"Nuh-uh, I don't think so." She fingered one of the chains at Jill's waist, smiling at a miniature skull head hanging from it. "I rather like this ensemble. Very... witch-y. I think it's a keeper."

"No, I-"

"You're not taking it off." The Witch turned her back and took a few steps in the opposite direction. "I've decided so. Are there any objections?"

"You bet your f-" The Witch glanced back at her then and Jill's words were lost in her throat. There was a cruel warning in the scarlet orbs boring into her own that scared her, gave her a chill. "I-I...!"

"Good." She smiled. "I didn't think so."

Jill blinked at her, gaping. How had she done that? Minutes ago, she'd been talking sweetly to old Romana while just now, her eyes seemed more evil than those of demons. Was she truly that rotten inside? Was the sweet sadistic cheerfulness a simple facade?

"Now, I'm preparing a potion, and I need blue herbs." She flicked her fingers up at her new assistant. "Go fetch, puppy-girl."

Jill grit her teeth. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

The Witch gave her an irritated scowl. "Such a disobedient little girl I have here, hm? Normally, I'd have made you bleed for refusing me, but I'll be generous this time. After all, you'd only bother me more if I decided not to answer you." She rolled her eyes again as she walked to one of the many pots on the floor. "So? What do you want to know?"

"Why was Romana acting so weird?"

"She's a weird lady. Next!"

"I mean it!" Jill clenched her fists angrily. "Be serious!"

"Ugh, such boring questions!" The Witch Princess groaned dramatically. "Fine. Right after I made you my apprentice, I decided to cast a curse on you. Anything I've done to people in the last year, they now think you helped with." She smiled cheerfully, as if this were good. "So now, they all think you've betrayed them, and they hate you as much as they hate me~!"

"You- Why did you do that?!" Her blood boiled.

"Because I couldn't have you refuse to be my assistant and attempt to live a normal life with your powers!" She laughed, for wouldn't she be so completely foolish if she'd let that happen? Hm? "Don't try to deny it, I know that's what you were originally thinking! But now, there can be no way for that to happen. Nope, none at all!" She giggled. "Fantastic, isn't it?"

"You... Everyone... hates me?" Jill felt her heart clench. Everyone... Lumina, Muffy, Celia, Rock, Flora, Gustafa... Did they really all hate her now?

"Yep, simple as that." She made a popping noise with her mouth, scooping some powder out from the pot she held.

"But the Harvest Goddess-"

"That damn bitch knows nothing." Jill could easily hear the irritation in her voice at the mention of her rival's name. "She won't believe you if you complain to her, and she sure as hell won't try to fix anything, so good luck with that."

"What? But... well then... What about Cluck, Lunch, and Chinese Turkey?"

The Witch grimaced. "Who now?"

"My birds."

"Oh... Yep, they hate you too." She saw the worried look on Jill's face and scowled. "They're fine, geez! The old fart that lives beside you, he takes care of them now."

"Oh." That still didn't make her feel much better. "So... There's no way to reverse all that...?"

"Nope." She exaggerated the 'p', smiling at the sound. "No way to reverse it. You can try to roll with it though, but trust me," she smirked, "it sure as hell won't be easy. Maybe I'll let you have them back in a year or two, if you're on your best behaviour. But, then again... You probably won't want them then anyway. They're only a nuisance."

Jill was quiet, thoughtful. If there was no way to reverse it, then how could The Witch release them later on? "You're lying about something. Either there _is_ a way to reverse it, or there isn't and you'll never let me **ever **have any friends."

"Hahaha! Well... You have me." She sprinkled the strange blue powder into her large cauldron, smiling back at the farmer in amusement. "Isn't that enough?"

Jill forced her expression to stay blank and bit her tongue from retorting any more. "You wanted herbs, right?" she asked and stormed out.

"Oh, good!" she heard The Witch call after her. "No more dumb questions to answer!"

Jill ignored her and decided to focus on her task. No, really! She wouldn't try to get in anyone's way- at the current moment, she was too emotionally worn out to deal with any more outbursts like Romana's. (1)

It wasn't all too hard, really. Fifteen minutes or so later, Jill was storming back into The Witch's cabin. "Here," she said, shoving the plants into her elder's arms.

"Seven blue herbs," The Witch counted, "two yellow herbs... and six weeds." Her brow rose. "Interesting... Perhaps you're color-blind. That's alright though, I only needed five pieces of blue grass."

"Humph." The farmer rubbed at her eyes. "I think I'm going to go home and nap now. I don't know why, but I'm really tired..."

"Heh." Jill looked up sharply at the sound. "You're still quite human. Funny... We witches don't need sleep." She stepped down from her ladder. "In fact, I was up all night making your room."

"Hm?" By this time, sleep was already taking her hostage. Her eyes drooped and her mind began to go fuzzy. It had been another extremely long day- and it wasn't even over yet!

The Witch mumbled a few words and Jill could have sworn she'd begun floating. "Yes! I've been practicing that one forever... I'm so stoked that it worked!" Without even moving, Jill was taken through a doorway on the back wall that hadn't been there before.

Her eyes were closed as she levitated through the air. Briefly, she wondered if The Witch had cast a spell on her to get her this drowsy, but that thought evaporated when she felt a comfy mattress beneath her. "I figured you'd need one," she heard, but the voice was distant.

Jill wasn't sure whether that laugh just now was real or part of her dream. "At least now, you won't be running away. Convenient, isn't it? Ooh, maybe while you're relaxing here, I can test some new spells or potions. Surely you won't mind when you're dead to the world, hm?" Another cackle. She spoke some more, but it all seemed too distorted to understand.

And besides, Jill didn't really care about what this person was saying anyway. Exhaustion from all the stress was taking its toll.

"Nighty night~!" she heard someone whisper, but didn't bother doing anything about it.

Already, she'd escaped to a dreamy utopia in which witches didn't exist.

.o0o.

_Ahaha, another rushed ending~! I was falling asleep on this side of the screen, for real, and I could barely keep my eyes open. So I thought, 'Damn, let's finish this thing!' and had us both fall asleep._

_Okay... I know that in my other stories, I was forever complaining about how long my chapters were becoming, how 11000 words per chapter were way too much, how I missed my 6000-word chapters, blah blah blah, but this seems... _**too**_ short. Disturbingly short. ... It probably isn't that short to some people, but it feels like it to me. I mean, what is this, 2000 words, 3000 if I'm lucky? I sure as hell hope it's at least more than a thousand words! O.O Oh geez, now I'm scaring myself... (It had BETTER be more than a thousand words!)_

_ANYWAY..._

**Question of the Chapter: Did The Witch cast a spell on Jill to put her asleep, or did Jill fall asleep on her own?**

_Cause, you know... I don't have any better questions. Pfft._

March 12, 2013

_I forgot to mention the date I started this. Whoops. I'm trying to do that more now, because... Well, I don't know why, really. Because I want to._

_Eh, I don't have much to say anymore, haha. Um... I hope you liked my crappy excuse for a chapter...? Ehehe..._

_Let's try for five reviews again for chapter two~!_

_.o0o._

(1) In other words, the author is tired- really tired. Deal with it. *yawn* Or don't, that's fine too...

.o0o.

**Review please, or The Witch will put a spell on YOU! LOL! ... And if that's not enough... Review, or I'll be sad. D': Please?**


End file.
